Yo. I know that I haven't updated for a long while . . . I suppose that I can't say that I got lost on the road of life?
Heh… heh…
Anyways I'm trying to fix up the former chapters for mistakes, plot holes, and such and such. If you noticed, I've redone a few chapters, and the Yondaime no longer is OOC. Thank god that the Naruto chapters had a flashback with the whole 'how Kakashi got his Sharingan eye' thing.
Any suggestions on how Sasuke's gonna turn out later on the Chuunin exams? Should he go to Orochimaru or should he do something crazy like massacring the Uchiha clan and running off to join the Akatsuki? (Whoops, wrong character… )
Seriously, without a problem or villain this story isn't going to go far… I need some bad guys… and Orochimaru isn't just going to cut it. Since Sasuke's family wasn't killed off, his mental stability is quite fine and everyone loves little Sasuke. (Think fuzzy pink bunnies and a rainbow…)
Gah! See where my problem is? If you have any ideas, even if they sound far-fetched and stupid, give me an e-mail or review.
Later.
- - -
Trying not to act like a spoiled child when the dark haired jounin easily manhandled him, meaning that he was spinning around in circles as the Uchiha easily maneuvered around him; brushing away his taijutsu attacks with ease that could only come form a veteran.
The genin panted for breath as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his dirtied sleeve. Squinting at his sensei, Naruto carefully analyzed his situation; any idiot could tell that he was easily outclassed by tenfold. He would need to come up with something brilliant, something that only he could think of . . . something Sakura-chan would probably call . . . a Naruto-ish plan.
Feeling for the limited amount of arsenals inside his weapons pouch, he roughly estimated that he had roughly about twenty or so more shrunken and kunai left all together. His knowledge of jutsu's wasn't that impressive, but he would have to manage somehow . . . he always had.
Jumping into the air, he yelled, "Kage Bunshin!" Quickly forming the necessary handseals, he made twenty copies of himself; all had their fists drawn as far back as possible.
"Take this you bastard!" All twenty yelled at the same time.
Time seemed to freeze; suddenly the shadow doppelgangers disappeared in smoke. The real Naruto was thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of his lungs. Itai . . . he winced, face taut with exhaustion and pain. I couldn't even see him move! Is he even human?
The building top sported some property damage, deep cracks like spider webs in the terracotta, but otherwise nothing was totally demolished. Itachi frowned disapprovingly at the Yondaime's legacy.
"Itoko, can you even consider yourself worthy to carry the noble blood of the Uchiha? Even Sasuke can fare better then this. Are you . . ." he smirked at the blank look on Naruto's face. "Nothing but a coward?"
"Damn no!" Naruto staggered to his feet, wobbling unsteadily as he drew out his kunai. "The hell that Sasuke-bastard'll be better then me! I'm a thousand times stronger than he'll ever be!"
Drawing out his weapon, the blonde again rushed at Itachi, yelling for all he had worth. "KYYYAAA! Take this, teme!" Red sharingan eyes suddenly widened in pain as a strangled gasp wretched from the blonde's throat. Naruto felt the wind being knocked out of his lungs as a fist buried into his stomach.
The dark-haired Uchiha prodigy removed his hand from Naruto, as he watched the boy slump over in hurt. He merely raised an eyebrow when the genin managed to wheeze intolerable curses. However, his guard slightly wavered when the boy renounced himself unconscious.
Slumped over, the blonde didn't move, even as Itachi came closer. His pale face showed no emotion; a blank mask of the ANBU. ". . . So is this how it will end, Itoko?" The older ninja's deep voice asked, even though he knew that the boy would not answer.
Seconds ticked by, silence deafened his ears as the former ANBU captain stood absolutely still. His body still crouched in a fighting stance, Itachi had been through numerous battles- instinct told him that there was still fight left in the genin.
True to his intuition, Naruto's head suddenly snapped up as his hand suddenly whipped out from his side and threw a kunai at the dark haired Uchiha, lips bared back into a feral grin. "Take this!"
Itachi looked bored as he easily caught the dangerous projectile with his index finger and thumb. However, he noticed the explosive note cleverly attached to the handle a little too late as Naruto eerily had the same smirk plastered to his face as Itachi did moments before.
The Uchiha's eyes widened as the note sparked to life by a tiny flame; within a second, the weapon had exploded into a thick cloud of smoke that obscured the air. Naruto pumped chakra to his legs, sending himself airborne ten feet up and out of the hazy mist of explosives. He landed with the accuracy of a cat onto a perch, grinning widely.
"Heh. . . bang!" The blonde grinned cockily as he turned his head to his handiwork. Not that he could see it anyways. Suddenly a chill ran down his spine as he realized that he had something was gently brushing against his neck . . . the cool touch of a metal edge.
"Naruto-kun," Itachi's monotone voice silkily whispered into his ear as he held up a kunai to the blonde's throat. "You are dead."
The said so ninja's brain struggled to register what had just happened. Since when did Itachi manage to get behind him? He was positive that he had. . . son of a bitch! His own prized technique used against him!
A kage bunshin was merely a distraction while the original had the explosion to easily mask his presence and sneak up behind him. It was merely child's play to simply use kawarimi no jutsu and time it just so that . . .
Damn it!
Sweat dripped down his forehead as he felt the cold blade press gently into his skin, daring not to breathe for fear of impaling himself. Irregular heartbeats thumped against his chest, as the thick smoke cloud slowly blew away.
"K-ku-kuso. . . " he hissed, sharingan fading into blue. He allowed himself to go limp as the stubborn ninja realized that it was no use. It was checkmate clear through. "Heh, now what?" he closed his eyes, smirking slightly.
". . ." Itachi was silent as he gripped the kunai tighter in his hand.
"Well? Finish it!" Blue orbs filled with intensity snapped open. "I don't care if you're a thousand times stronger, but if you let me go, I swear on the name Hokage that I'll one day come back and kick your ass!"
"Really? That's very amusing Itoko." Itachi let his lips curl into a smug smile. "I would want to see that day." The two stood still for several minutes, an unnatural wind playfully scattered leaves across the rooftop.
The Uchiha released Naruto, immutable eyes stonily gazed at him. "This is all for today. Do not expect me to play favorites between you or my foolish little brother."
The Uchiha prodigy silently disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Naruto to register what just had happened. Gritting his teeth together, the blonde viciously dug his fingernails into his palm. Damn! He just acted like I was nothing; a little whiny wannabe ninja! Was he that strong? He was on a whole different level then me. . .
The blonde crossed his arms and pursed his lips together, even though the boy had tried to look serious, the comical look of intense concentration was all the more hilarious.
Nee, everything's sure is weird here. Kakashi-sensei back home would never have a one on one sparring with me. . . and even a relative's of Sasuke. . . if he has any. . . back with Kakashi-sensei and everyone. . . Perspiration dripped down his face as he scrunched his mouth into a frown, shutting his eyes as well.
It's like everyone here is almost forced to like me! But ano sa. . . A look of sadness crossed Naruto's face. However, his train of thought vanished, as a very familiar voice called out his name in an obnoxious tone.
"Honored and revered child of the Hokage! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
"Eh?" Naruto cocked his head to the side, his mouth dropping down to the point where if it could, would have gone through the terra cotta tiled roof. "C-closet pervert!"
"N-nani!" Ebisu stuttered as he readjusted his glasses, so that Naruto's reflection stared with a gaping mouth back at him. "Ahem. Naruto-sama, I do not know what you mean. However, your training! When you had not shown up, I grew worried. The shortest path to Hokage is through me, you must remember that."
Getting a feeling of nostalgia, Naruto underwent the oddest sense of déjà vu. Really, he could sympathize with Konohamaru now. The little kid had to deal with this lout all the time! Rolling his eyes, he crossed his fingers as he yelled, "Harem no jutsu!"
". . ." Ebisu's glasses slightly lowered so that his bulging eyes gawked at the very. . . intriguing sight of twenty so naked and beautiful blonde girls cooing and winking very seductively at the jounin.
The reaction was well . . . a massive nosebleed propelled him backward, and of course right off the roof and a painful crash resulted in the canceling of the jutsu. As the last bit of the smoke that was released from the jutsu cleared away, Naruto peered cautiously over the edge.
Ebisu was . . . not going to be able to move anytime soon. A fine imprint of his body was deeply imprinted onto the ground below, a hand reached for some sort of help from the hole.
Sighing, the blonde decided to show some mercy and jumped down. "Jeeze, how perverted can you get? Even here, you're a big closet hentai," he grumbled, crouching down so that he was able to reach for the jounin.
After pulling Ebisu out, and getting lectured on how moral ninjas should never perform such unsightly jutsus, the jounin frog-marched Naruto to the hot springs, snarling angrily every time the boy had tried to slip away unnoticed. As soon as they had arrived, Ebisu had Naruto start walking on water- that was scalding hot.
The hot springs was most certainly one of the oddest places to train, however it's purpose quickly revealed itself in a form of scorching and wet manner.
Swearing and cursing, the blonde yelped in pain as he took another plunge. "Itai!" He jumped out of the water, splashing Ebisu as well in the process. Sitting uncomfortably on the edge of the bank, Naruto wringed out his shirt; skin lobster red.
Naruto hated this, everything about it. The stupid training, the stupid Ebisu pervert, the stupid everything!
"GAH!" He tugged at the locks of his blonde hair, venting his bottled up frustration as he pointed at Ebisu (Who was in fact displeased that he too got wet). "Just why the hell do I have to do this! It's pointless and dumb! Just see if I stick around, baka closet pervert!" He immaturely stuck out his tongue as pulled on his still wet shirt over his head.
"But . . . Naruto-sama!" Ebisu spluttered haplessly; his protests falling on deaf ears. "What about your dream? The quickest way to become Hokage-"
"Hokage? If being Hokage is all about who can get there the fastest, then you've got it dead wrong. It's about the title of respect that you have to earn from the village, a symbol that you've worked your ass off for that job," Naruto said, squinting his eyes at the special jounin.
"Naruto-sama! You've got it all wrong! I'm here to guide you through the perils of life, your mentor through any trouble!" Ebisu argued, his sunglasses now crookedly hung off the bridge of his nose as his volume steadily rose- drawing unwanted attention from the other bathers.
"Maa, you sure do like to talk don't you?" Naruto straightened up, adjusting his forehead protector- letting the sunlight catch off the metal surface. "For a guy who claims that he knows everything, you sure are clueless."
" . . . "
"Becoming Hokage is a commitment, cause everybody has to respect the name. Tch, but then again," Naruto snorted. "What can a suck-up like you would ever know? There are no short cuts in life!"
With that, Naruto walked away, his zori squelching every time he stepped with his left foot. "Hey closet pervert, you're out of a job. Why don't you train Konohamaru instead?" he said in a cheerful voice without looking back. "Later!"
"Naruto-sama…" Ebisu was at a loss for words. You . . . have suddenly matured! I knew that under my great tutelage that you would grow into a fine shinobi! He pushed his round sunglasses up the bridge of his nose, comical tears running down his face.
He watched the retreating backside of Naruto fade away into the sunset, his body bathed in gold's and red. The sky was painted of the dancing fire, and royal purple drew its line across the horizon.
The storybook setting suddenly crashed with a horrible screeching of a broken record. A woman's scream of, "GAH! A PERVERT! RUN!" and anguished cries of, "NO! COME BACK MY PRETTY LITTLE GIRLS!" along with a distant rumbling shook the small hot spring resort.
The distant rumbling turned into a loud roar: a hoard of women wrapped around in towels and bikinis stampeded over poor Ebisu, bare feet and sandals squishing his face.
Thud!
Thwack!
Stomp!
"Itai. . ." Ebisu removed a high-heeled shoe from his face, a fine footprint smashed his nose.
"Ahhh! My research! My inspiration! My will to live! NO! Come back!" An old man wheezed, running after the women. Definitely a pervert. . . and an old one at that too.
Scrunch!
His body was paralyzed with pain, his arm involuntary twitched spasmodically. The old man's footprint smashed his face in, Ebisu's glasses swinging back and fro from only one ear. He definitely needed a new job . . . seriously he did.
- - -
"Naruto-kun, you're late! I was so worried!" Sakura exclaimed, her face puckered into a frown. Naruto-kkkkuuuunnnn! I missed you so much! Her pink hair blew into her emerald eyes as she brushed them back shyly with her hand.
"Ch, as usual," Sasuke had his hands in his pockets, looking bored as usual. "We've been waiting for an hour now. Ahou. . ."
"Wha-what'd you just say! Come here so I can kick your stupid ass!" Naruto's eyes turned into saucers as he rolled up his sleeves. Shoving himself into Sasuke's face, he snarled angrily, as the other boy snorted in irritation.
"Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! Don't fight with each other . . ." Sakura protested, nervously biting her lower lip. Should she help Sasuke-kun, or should she support Naruto-kun? Oh the decisions! The pink-haired girl didn't know what to do, torn up her affection for both.
"It's no use Haruno. Even if you do separate them, they'll start fighting again," Itachi quietly said from behind her, causing the girl to jump three feet into the air. He smirked, continuing in that same flat tone, "Since Naruto-kun was so nice to show up; we can begin now."
As if by some Uchiha magic, the two stopped bickering. However, looks of heated frustration and childish resentment were shot back and forth faster then a kunai. Naruto muttered incomprehensive things lost within his mumbling, as Sasuke did the same.
"Sasuke-bastard. . ."
"Dumbass. . ."
Ignoring the two, Itachi set a small alarm clock on a stump, setting the time for noon. Naruto instantly recognized the clock- it was his own! "Ano sa, Itachi-sensei! Isn't that mine? . . . It's YOUR fault that I'm late! You swiped MY alarm clock!" His voice reached volumes that had never been heard before, the genin's face purpling.
"Baka. . . Who cares? A ninja shouldn't even have to use that," Sasuke scornfully looked into Naruto's blue eyes, his lips twitching into a frown. "I can't believe that I'm even related to you. . ."
"SHUT UP!"
"The test will begin on the count of three," Itachi cut in, pulling out a kunai as he played with the sharp object- tossing it up and down while twirling it around his fingers. "The goal is to get this from me." The oldest Uchiha patted his jounin pocket flask, which jingled lightly. No doubt was to what was inside.
"Hah! This'll be a piece of cake!" Naruto laughed, inside he was mentally dancing the Congo to a victory tune. Bells and a survival test. He already knew the 'underneath the underneath.' All he had to do was grab that Sasuke-teme and Sakura-chan, whip up a plan and even if they fail- they still pass for teamwork they demonstrated.
"And also from each other. You all need a total of two to pass. There are four of us, each with a single bell. So in the end, even if you manage to steal mine from me there is going to be one who will fail." Itachi casually tossed each genin a bell with a flip of his wrist.
"SAY WHAT!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping out of his mental victory dance. "Y-you mean we have to get TWO bells? But t-that's not fair! Itachi-sensei, you cheater!"
Raising a delicate eyebrow, the dark haired jounin shrugged nonchalantly. His bored air around him suggested that he really didn't care if Naruto died of a heart attack right in front of him. "The ones who fail end up back at the academy and also gets tied to a log while we eat lunch."
Ok Naruto… calm down… it's still probably another way of testing our teamwork… The blonde thought to himself, grinning weakly as he started to sweat. Ok, what did Kakashi-sensei say last time? Ninja who don't follow the rules are trash, and those who don't care for their comrades are worse then that… Blah, blah… Man I really wished that I paid closer attention to his lectures…
"Ch," Sasuke scoffed as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Hey, moron . . . you'd better watch out." He addressed the pale Naruto with little interest, letting his challenge hang in the air.
Too bad Naruto was having something close to hysterics to listen.
Naruto-kun. . . Sasuke-kun. . . What will I do? Either way I loose one of them! Sakura grimly tensed, her emerald eyes blazing with what Gai would have declared as: 'The Flames of Youth!' I will not loose here! It's a true test of love! Inner Sakura roared from within the depths of her mind.
"On the count of three. . ." Itachi drawled lazily, holding up his fingers. "One . . ." He lowered his finger slowly. "Two . . . "
The three genin all visibly tensed.
"Three!"
And the survival exams begins with an explosive start as four shadows flashed into the forest field.
- - - -
Naruto: Gyyah! What the hell! I thought this was supposed to be a cakewalk! Stupid Sasuke, quit showing off! How'd the hell are we supposed to pass as a team when it's 100 guarantee that one of us will fail! Wait! Are you saying that this test isn't about teamwork? Then what is it!
Next time on A Different Path Given: Trials of a ninja!